


The Bunk Next Door

by Lucifuge5



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Failboats In Love, Gerard/Lyn-Z, M/M, Ray/Christa, bandomstuffsit 2011, chubby!Frank, past Mikeyway/others
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-30
Updated: 2011-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-29 02:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifuge5/pseuds/Lucifuge5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>Frank smiles at Mikey like he's sharing a secret.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bunk Next Door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turps](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turps/gifts).



> Thank you to Akamine_Chan, Mel_fabu and Hazelwho for awesomecakes beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.

* * *

"I've heard we're leaving in 20," James says before opening the dressing room door and stepping back into the main hallway. The roar of the crowd, dulled by the distance from the stage to where they're sitting, is both familiar and terrifying. Tonight's concert is over, but it looks like everyone is still wound up.

Ray listens with infinite patience as Gerard waves his hands to and fro as they reminisce about the way they used to play "Sorrows" two tours ago versus how they do it now. Mikey nods at the two of them, even though he's not really following the conversation, smiling whenever Ray throws out a calm 'hmm' to Gerard's excited rambling.

With a towel draped over his shoulders, Mikey fiddles with the tab of the Red Bull can between his knees, enjoying the post-concert rush. For this first leg of the US tour, they've been closing with "Kids" instead of "Cancer" and, though initially nervous, Mikey digs the fact that he's the last one of the band to leave the stage. Just like they did during their iTunes Festival show. He's a long way from having to be practically--if not completely--wasted to play in front of an audience.

Mikey's relaxed state lasts until Frank walks in. Suddenly, it is as if someone's turned off the A/C. Rather than lick his lips like some kind of sleazoid, Mikey drinks some Red Bull. He gives himself a high-five after (almost) successfully avoiding staring at Frank when he walks in front of him.

"Man, did tonight kick ass or what?" Frank says to no one in particular.

"Gerard won't shut up about the extra encore," Ray answers with an easy grin. "He's using weird metaphors."

"Hey," Gerard says, crossing his arms, "All I'm saying is that our old stuff sounds even _better_ when played in between the new material." At this, he throws a relatively clean towel at Frank who catches it with one graceful swoop of his right arm.

"Gee, Ray's just pulling your leg." Frank wipes most of the sweat off his face. "No one had any idea that the kids would like the new stuff as much. Even Mikey's hipster friends were singing along to 'Planetary' ". Frank smiles at Mikey like he's sharing a secret.

Face hot at Frank's playfulness, Mikey tries to shrug it off by cracking his knuckles. "You're just never going to forget Larissa and Carlos dissing Leathermouth are you?"

"You've got to make friends with people who have better taste in music, Mikey," Frank answers, wiggling out of the soaked navy blue sweatshirt and the black Ramones t-shirt he'd worn for the concert. After tossing the now dirty towel to the side, he gets down on his knees and rummages through his backpack. "The fuck did I put my other t-shirt?" he says. "It's motherfucking cold in here."

Mikey uses the lull in the conversation to take a careful sip of the Red Bull as his eyes study the wide expanse of Frank's naked back. He sneaks a glance at Ray and Gerard, who have moved from songs to former favorite microphones, before looking at the pumpkin tattoo between Frank's shoulders. It's easy, maybe too easy, to follow a drop of sweat as it slides downwards to the two crossed pistols on Frank's lower back. Mikey doesn't want to get caught, but he can't stop staring at the love handles, the hint of a belly and this general roundness in Frank's physique. His weight gain somehow fits him, making him look solid. Frank's always been a cuddler. Mikey can't help but think that curling around Frank in bed nowadays must feel quite heavenly.

Going against his own rule, Mikey spent some time surfing for recent photos of Frank when they went on the three week vacation break. He rubbed a few out after finding the one where Frank's wearing his black 'Legalize Gay' t-shirt, looking pissed off and scruffy as fuck. And he pretty much passed out from coming too hard after one particular jerk-off session during which he'd fantasized rubbing his cock against Frank's light brown beard.

So, yeah, his cock definitely approves of the way Frank looks nowadays. What doesn't help the situation is that he really knows Frank in that intimate but not sexual way people get to know each other after sharing a van for years on end. He's seen Frank naked, sweaty, drunk, high, sober, clean and dirty. On top of that, having firsthand knowledge of how sweet and smart Frank is hasn't helped matters at all. Mikey's heart might not forgive him for falling so hard for Frank. Especially now that the two of them are both single.

It's complicated.

The few 'ew, why is Frank still fat?' comments he came across online still irritate him. Frank's always been good-looking—even through that weird period at the beginning of the band when he wore dreads. It's also true that he's usually been on the lean side, but Mikey can't think of any other time when Frank's looked hotter.

It's a good thing that he can pass his blushes off as being overheated because of the set's bright lights.

"--think he's spaced out, Gerard. Hey, Mikey!"

Hearing the snap-snap of Ray's fingers, Mikey shakes his head and squints in Ray's direction. "Huh?"

"Dude, we need you to vote on this: do you think that the Audix OM7 is better than the SM 58? And please don't side with Gerard. I promise you he won't take away your coffee."

Mikey manages to hide a grunt of disappointment that Frank has slipped on a Skeleton Crew t-shirt before answering, "Um."

"Dude?"

The concern on Ray's face flares up a wave of guilt inside Mikey. He's a grown man. Mooning after one of his oldest friends like he's some lovesick teenager is absolutely ridiculous. Besides, it's not as if Frank is interested. The worst part is that Mikey can't really check with him without embarrassing himself. Mikey wishes he could hide inside his hoodie. He settles for hunching his shoulders.

"Hey, Mikes. You OK?" Gerard's voice combined with the gentle pressure on his left shoulder manages to shake Mikey out of his daydreaming.

"Yeah, I was trying to, um . . ." Mikey bites his lower lip. "What's the question again?"

"Pfft, never mind Mikey, I'll defend your honor," Frank says as he pockets his cigarettes and lighter. "A good mike is important, but it'll mean jack shit if the sound tech falls asleep at the board."

"That's exactly what I was telling Gerard but he keeps insisting that I know nothing about singing." Ray purses his lips. He's about to say something else when the first notes of "2 Minutes to Midnight" start playing. "Hold on," he says, holding his cellphone and checking the display. "To be continued," he says in a stage-whisper before getting up and starting to talk to his wife.

Gerard shakes his head. He turns to Mikey, radiating big brother vibes. "You're hungry? I think there might be some leftover chicken parmesan on the bus. We could heat it up, share a plate . . ."

Usually, Mikey would bask in Gerard's protectiveness. His big brother has looked out for him from as far back as he can remember. But there are things he wants to figure out on his own, that he needs to untangle without anyone's input.

At the very least, he needs to figure things out before Gerard turns his earnestness to 11, prompting Mikey to confess what he's thinking and feeling. Having a heart-to-heart with Gerard is both a blessing and a curse. A love for John Hughes movies and musicals have warped Gerard's mind into thinking that the way to romance is to do a grand gesture. Any other time, Mikey would've considered it, maybe even joked about it before giving his brother a look.

However, this time around, too much is at stake for Mikey to feel ready to make any kind of gesture--big or small--towards Frank. Not until he's sure enough he won't be making an ass of himself. "Nah, I--I think I'm going to my bunk when we get back, Gee." He scratches the side of his head, faking a yawn worthy of an Academy Award. "Raincheck?"

"Sure," Gerard says and puts his head against Mikey's shoulder. "Frank's right though. We did kick ass tonight."

Mikey gulps down the rest of his energy drink. Frank crosses the room, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, calling out for James to go have a smoke with him. He turns around and winks at Mikey before leaving the room.

~*~

Many hours and several towns later, Mikey kicks off the comforter and stares out into the darkness of his bunk. He's tried to keep his mind from going around and around. Much as he might enjoy it, ogling Frank isn't something he should do so openly. That is, unless he wants everyone else to see that he's got this crush-lust- _and the other L word_ -thing for Frank. There's no question he's a coward, but the band has gone through too many ups and downs throughout the years for it to implode because Mikey fucking Way couldn't keep his boner away from a bandmate.

Having tossed and turned in between way-too-brief moments of sleep, he's neck deep into that too-tired-to-doze-off stage. His frustration at his lack of rest worsens by the off-tempo snoring duet Dewees and Frank have on the next bunks over. Funny how he can pick up Frank's occasional purr-like snore over Dewees' obnoxious ones.

This late into the night, Mikey knows Ray has to be completely zonked out. He remembers hearing Ray shuffle his way to the bunk underneath his after spending a few hours in the back studio. Mikey considers and then dismisses the urge to wake him up and ask Ray to keep him company. It won't be of any use. Ray sleeps like the dead.

Yielding to the idea that his own sleep is far away from his reach, Mikey pushes the blackout curtain aside and slips out of his bunk with practiced ease. He's glad he wore two pairs of socks before jumping into his bunk hours earlier. The floor, half covered with dirty clothing, a couple of take-out boxes and a sneaker or two, feels sticky. He picks his way out to the main lounge, unnecessarily holding his breath until he's past Frank's bunk, only to find Gerard sketching on the comfy sofa.

"Can't sleep either?" Gerard raises an eyebrow as he picks up a magenta pencil and starts to fill in whatever it was he'd drawn.

Whether it's the lateness of the hour, the fact that he's keeping his voice down to a whisper or that his brother is focusing on something else, Mikey can't say. All he knows is that his earlier thoughts on keeping his mouth shut about how he might (definitely) feel about (hot as fuck) Frank were a moot point. He _needs_ his big brother. "Can't stop thinking," he says, sitting down next to Gerard.

"Something you want to talk about?" Gerard's tone is casual. He picks up one of what Mikey likes to call his fancy pens.

Mikey pulls up his legs and nods. He leans against Gerard's shoulder, taking in the carefree way Gerard moves the pen in his right hand this way and that. Soon, the curvy and straight lines become two mummies, one slightly taller than the other, doing something that vaguely looks like the Twist.

Gerard keeps sketching. "Trouble?"

Mikey slumps down until his head is on Gerard's upper torso. "Boy trouble," he sighs.

"Oh, Mikey," Gerard says. He puts the pen down and wraps his right arm around Mikey's waist. "Feel like telling me?"

Mikey takes one full in-out breath, then another and another before he feels ready enough to say "It's about Frank."

Once he gets started talking, he can't stop. He's only half-aware of all the words coming out of his mouth of telling Gerard about what he's feeling, how long he's had this crush and how he doesn't want anything to change though he knows it's going to. Unexpectedly, Gerard doesn't interrupt, doesn't reply with his opinions or do anything that is remotely Gerard-like. Mikey keeps jabbering until the weight and confusion that he's held onto for months ease some of the pressure on his shoulders. He's never been so grateful for Gerard's silence.

"So, what do you think?" he says when he's all talked out.

"You're not giving yourself or Frank enough credit, Mikes," Gerard says after a beat. "Frank's not Pete, he's not Andy and he's _definitely_ not Ryan. Those were fun and intense and, maybe, in the case of Pete, even meaningful relationships. But you can't--you can't go around assuming things about Frank or how he might feel about you."

Mikey rubs his hands against his closed eyes. The sun is coming up fast and Mikey's focus on the conversation is almost gone. "What are you saying? That Frank . . .?"

Gerard's smile is small but warm. "You've been beating yourself up with guilt about your feelings and how often you look at Frank." Gerard waves his left hand in the air. "But all this freaking out is not letting you notice that Frank might be looking back."

"At me?"

"Yes at you, Mikes," Gerard says. "He's not looking at me, that's for sure. Not if he _wants_ Lindsey to kick him in the nuts."

"Huh."

~*~

Two weeks later, they're in Del City with a whole day off ahead of them. The four of them go to a nearby mall to catch a matinee show of _Bleed You Til Death_. Mikey knows it's a fluke, or at least he'd like to think is, that he somehow ends up seated next to Frank.

"You mind if I flip the armrest up?" Frank asks during the previews. "Thought it'd be easier since we're sharing this popcorn and all."

"Erm, yeah. No problem," Mikey answers. He hears an inner-voice (one that sounds like Pete at his whiniest) call him "chicken!" He can sit in darkened room next to the one person he's panting after without becoming a spazz. Really, he can. (His inner-voice scoffs at him.)

The movie is entertaining enough to distract Mikey until both he and Frank reach into the tub of popcorn about halfway through the movie.

Frank taps his fingers against Mikey's. "After you," he whispers in his ear.

Mikey reins in the impulse to snatch his hand back, mumbling back a 'thanks' before grabbing a handful of popcorn. Onscreen, a bloodthirsty maniac is slicing teenagers in half. Here in the real world, Mikey munches on the popcorn, riding the wave of giddiness at the exchange.

For a moment there, he could've sworn Frank had flirted with him.

~*~

Afterwards, Frank and Gerard make a beeline for the bookstore. Mikey and Ray catch a taxi back to their tour bus.

Flipping through an Avengers trade paperback while Ray heats up some mac and cheese from the fridge, Mikey's concentrating on the comic hard enough to almost topple over when Ray sits next to him on the couch.

"Sorry," Ray says before he scoops out a forkful of the food in his plate.

Mikey yawns as he closes the book. "No problem, Toro. I've read this one way too many times already. You know, I keep hoping we play a town that has a decent comic book store, but it never happens."

Ray hmms. "I think it'll get better once we hit the bigger cities. So, um, I kinda wanted to talk to you . . ."

A cold wave goes from the top of Mikey's head to his socked feet. "What's up?"

Nobody talks in the next few seconds during which Ray frowns at his food like he's trying to come up with a good opening line. It's the same almost-grimace he makes when they work on song titles. Ray puts the plate on the floor before turning around and facing Mikey. "This thing with Frank."

Carefully avoiding making a frown of his own, Mikey returns Ray's uncertain gaze. "What thing with Frank?"

One roll of his eyes later, Ray shakes his head. "The thing where the two of you keep looking at each other like a couple of kids in homeroom."

"Oh."

"You should, you know." Ray makes a 'get with it' gesture that reminds Mikey of Gerard at his flakiest. "You're single, he's single. There are _obvious_ feelings in the air and, you know, when two people care about each other so deeply…"

"Hang on! Did Gee talk to you? What feelings? I--he--who's said anything about obvious?" It's stupid, he's being stupid, but he can't shake off the defensive tone from his words.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down," Ray says. "I haven't talked to Gerard about anything other than the usual geeky shit. It's just that I've, um, seen you looking at Frank when you think everyone's distracted. And then, you make this expression like it hurts so much to just look? I've also caught Frank staring at your bony ass when you leave a room and also making the same face.At first, like, it didn't make sense. It wasn't until last Monday in Duluth. We had just wrapped soundcheck when you got this pissy expression on your face, like when Gerard drinks all the coffee and doesn't make a fresh pot. It all kinda clicked when I saw that you were looking at Frank talking to the venue's sound guy." Ray takes a big breath.

Thankfully, Mikey's already had the big venting speech with Gerard. Ray is one of the most laid-back guys Mikey knows but oversharing has never been Mikey's forte. "It's just that he's _Frank_ and the band and the tour--"

"Exactly!" Ray says happily. "We're talking about Frank. I happen to have insider knowledge, Mikey, and I know that you guys would work out."

Mikey raises an eyebrow at Ray. One of the biggest secrets about the band is how much of a gossip everyone is. Those who don't know Ray, usually give him a pass because of his mellow-yet-nerdy personality. Fools. "What insider knowledge?"

Ray crosses his arms. "I overheard Frank tell James he thinks you're hot but off-limits because he's afraid Gerard will kick his ass if he as much looks at you like, and I quote, 'he wants to tie you down to a bed.' Besides, the band? After everything that we've gone through? We'll be more than OK. I'm married, Gee is married. I think we just want to see you two kids settle down and be as happy as we are with our wives."

He knows his mouth is open, but it still takes a few seconds before he can talk. "So now you're matchmaking us?"

"Listen," Ray says, picking up his half-empty plate and stirring some of the mac and cheese. "I'm just telling you that you should go ahead and make a move now before someone else snatches him up."

"Someone else?" Mikey frowns at the possibility of having to stand around while Frank makes moony eyes at some other dude.

"He's hung up on you," Ray says nonchalantly, "but that doesn't mean that sooner or later he might get tired of this weird want-not want dance the two of you been doing ever since we started this tour. Think about it, OK?"

"Yeah, I will," Mikey says while his mind focuses on the idea of 'someone else' touching Frank and kissing him while Mikey is left sulking. He slides into his bunk, ready to come up with a "let's win Frank over using a sexy angle" plan only to end up falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

~*~

By the time Mikey wakes up, the bus has pulled over at a hotel in Bannerville. Why spend two nights sleeping on their bunks when they can do the same in a decently-priced hotel?

It is Frank who wakes him up with a tentative 'Mikey?' and gentle tug on his shoulder.

Mikey hums. He opens his eyes, making what must be the stupidest face at Frank as he takes in Frank's soft smile, the neatly trimmed beard and the gentle look in his hazel eyes. Rolling to his right side, Mikey feels like he's moving both fast and slow when he reaches out to Frank and pulls him towards him.

As first _real_ kisses go, it won't win any Olympic medals. Mikey gives too much tongue from the very beginning. For his part, Frank's surprise makes him a little slow in the uptake before he licks Mikey's lips, not holding back _anything_ at all.

~*~

That first kiss will last a grand total of five minutes. It would've gone on longer had it not been for the bus driver looking everywhere but at the two of them and mumbling something about the rest of the band waiting for them to check in into their respective rooms. Frank will giggle for a full minute before he says that they want to upgrade one room to a king-sized bed. Mikey will roll his eyes as he takes their room keycards. Ray will pretend he doesn't know anything and Gerard will drop some very unsubtle hints about 'being safe'.

In about twelve hours, he and Frank will snuggle down on one of the queen-sized beds after finally (finally!) showing each other how dirty and messy they can get. Both will make sure to leave an extra tip for the maid. (Mikey will be right about how good it'd feel to be naked in bed with Frank.)

It will take five days for the big hickey on the left side of Mikey's neck to fade away. Unlike Gerard, back when he was dating Lindsey, Mikey won't cover it up with a handkerchief. Pete will text Mikey a good-spirited ramble about 'breaking Tumblr'. Mikey will be curious but will stick to his own rule of avoiding all things Google for the time being.

One and a half weeks will go by before a video of the two of them making out in the parking lot of the Salt Lake City venue gets uploaded to YouTube. Travis, the first non-MCR person to talk about it, will tweet an "about time!". Having made the decision to go public, the band will sit for two exclusive interviews: one with Mike from Loveline and a printed one with Kerrang!

Six months after their first kiss, Frank will be sporting a new tattoo on the inside of his right upper arm. Most photos of it will be blurry. Some fans will speculate that it's a unicorn.

Years later, Mikey will totally take credit for kissing Frank, waving away any comments about being chickenshit during the first part of the 2011 tour. Frank will bite back a smile. Ray and Gerard will share a look and give each other thumbs up for bringing Mikey and Frank together.

THE END


End file.
